Sorta OT: Penn State article with UConn Mention on player punishments

[CTHusky]

http://espn.go.com/college-football...ficer-questioned-joe-paterno-player-treatment

May have missed it but hadn't seen this article mentioned. Has quotes from their former conduct and standards officer who had issue with their treatment of Penn State football players who got in trouble.

Apparently she was at UConn previously and the last few paragraphs cite Edsall as running a very open program/ someone who made players learn from mistakes.

 

[upstater]

A lot of the info is wrong. Conner missed 4 games--for PRANK CALLS. 4 of the players in the fight were tossed out of school, the main kid who went into that party was acquitted (Scirocco) and the judge suggested charges be filed against the person they went after in the party (he had hit Scirocco's girlfriend). It's odd the article is so wrong since so much info seems to come from ESPN's own OTL which did a story on all the suspensions and legal troubles at PSU. And now ESPN cites WSJ after WSJ cites ESPN.

I have no doubt the general gist is true and that Paterno wanted power. He was very upset especially at EZ Smith being tossed out of school for a year for an open beer in his door room. Joe kept defending underaged drinking. But, this is really no different I bet than what the vast majority of D1 coaches think and do.

 

[UConn9604]

Apparently she was at UConn previously and the last few paragraphs cite Edsall as running a very open program/ someone who made players learn from mistakes.

She was at UConn for several years as the Vice Provost for Student Affairs, I believe. I knew her well when she was here and she did a fantastic job, and left UConn only to return home to a similar job at her alma mater. (Insert "Dream Job" reference here.)

In all seriousness, she went out of her way to connect with the Athletic programs -- at arm's length, not too close and not too far -- and was a HUGE Husky fan.

I think both Edsall apologistas and Edsall haters (and everyone in between) will agree that Randy ran a pretty tight ship when he was here, and Vicky's and Randy's styles meshed well together.

 

[HartfordHank]

A lot of the info is wrong. Conner missed 4 games--for PRANK CALLS.

Seems like it it was a little more than PRANK CALLS as he was put on probation. Article with link below says "Connor and two backups, receiver Jim Kanuch and safety Nolan McCready, were issued summary offenses earlier this week in connection with the calls, which "escalated to the point of harassment" over the course of several months, the school said in a statement.
The school said the person who received the phone calls requested to remain anonymous.
All three players had been placed on probation Thursday."
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2138628

From another article it says he only had a three game suspension. He missed games against USF, Cincinnati and Central Michigan but was back for the Big 10 opener against Northwestern.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/historical/517486

 

[upstater]

Seems like it it was a little more than PRANK CALLS as he was put on probation. Article with link below says "Connor and two backups, receiver Jim Kanuch and safety Nolan McCready, were issued summary offenses earlier this week in connection with the calls, which "escalated to the point of harassment" over the course of several months, the school said in a statement.
The school said the person who received the phone calls requested to remain anonymous.
All three players had been placed on probation Thursday."
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2138628

From another article it says he only had a three game suspension. He missed games against USF, Cincinnati and Central Michigan but was back for the Big 10 opener against Northwestern.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/historical/517486

I knew he was out for a month, that was his suspension. It was prank calls to the ex-assistant coach.

Point is, the WSJ article got it wrong. Like it got so much wrong about the fight especially. Players were thrown out. There was controversy that the supposed instigator, Scirocco, was kept on the team and not thrown out, but in the end, even the Judge Charles Brown said the wrong person was charged, and it was the swimmers who hit Scirotto and his girlfriend who should have been up for trial. That being said, Scirotto retaliated by getting football players to back him up. Chris Baker was the thug that night, and he was thrown out of school.

 

[HartfordHank]

I knew he was out for a month, that was his suspension. It was prank calls to the ex-assistant coach.

I am sorry but you do not get probation for prank calls! I do not believe that the court systems gets involved if it is just prank calls! As the article says "escalated to the point of harassment". Far more than "prank calls.

The original suspension was "indefinite". Appears that meant he wouldn't miss and Conference Games!

 

[upstater]

I am sorry but you do not get probation for prank calls! I do not believe that the court systems gets involved if it is just prank calls! As the article says "escalated to the point of harassment". Far more than "prank calls.

The original suspension was "indefinite". Appears that meant he wouldn't miss and Conference Games!

It was prank calls.

 

[HartfordHank]

It was prank calls.

What flavor was the Koolaid? You obviously drank it!

You honestly believe in State College PA the DA got involved in a case against PSU Football players making prank calls to an Assistant Coach? It was obviously above and beyond being a prank call when you end up with PROBATION!

 

[upstater]

What flavor was the Koolaid? You obviously drank it!

You honestly believe in State College PA the DA got involved in a case against PSU Football players making prank calls to an Assistant Coach? It was obviously above and beyond being a prank call when you end up with PROBATION!

It was prank calls. Yes I do believe that. Prank calls are against the law.

 

[Rumrunner]

The problem that Penn State has now is that they have lost all benefit of any doubt that would customarily have been afforded to them.

That combined with the loss of autocratic rulers means more of these stories come out. No need to cower in fear anymore.

How many grades were changed or influenced? How accurate has Penn State's academic self-reporting been? Are they another UNC?

All legitimate questions when it appears that the President, Vice-president, Athletic Director, Head Coach and Ass't Coach are fired and/or indicted.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

What flavor was the Koolaid? You obviously drank it!

You honestly believe in State College PA the DA got involved in a case against PSU Football players making prank calls to an Assistant Coach? It was obviously above and beyond being a prank call when you end up with PROBATION!

You're a blowhard.

Prank calls by nature are a form of harassment. Kids made some prank calls and got busted. It's not even close to the worst thing any of us have done. 3 games sounds about right.

 

[Ronpatz11]

This article was terribly irresponsible. In it, I found nothing that is out of the ordinary with major college programs around the country. ESPN is getting itself into dangerous territory with this PSU scandal (and Syracuse to boot) in their desire to publish seemingly any negative report they can get their hands on. God forbid they take this same tact with Gainesville, Tuscaloosa or Athens, to name a few.

Look no further than CT's own Maurice Humphrey for an example of a player who screwed up at Penn State and was off the football team immediately. I am aware of multiple incidents at other schools around the country significantly worse where the player stayed on the team with short suspensions, if any.

Unfortunately, Penn State hasn't afforded itself the benefit of the doubt, so more articles like this will come up. I, for one, do not see this as "news", and seems to venting from someone who butted heads with JoePa.

 

[ruskin]

I met Triponey once and she seemed OK (btw, she's attractive; a former beauty pageant winner). She mentioned her relationship w/Edsall in her interview with ESPN yesterday. Get the impression she was stunned how much Penn State players were allowed to get away with. Go to Google and you'll see how hated she became for trying different things at PSU. 'Resistant to change' doesn't begin to describe it. I felt sorry for her. Said more about the culture there than it did her.
I wonder if she had same relationship w/Calhoun that she had w/Edsall.

 

[HartfordHank]

You're a blowhard.

Prank calls by nature are a form of harassment. Kids made some prank calls and got busted. It's not even close to the worst thing any of us have done. 3 games sounds about right.

Nice name calling, reinforces I must be right!

How many cases can you find were Prank Calls were handled in the court system? Then how many can you find that involved a protected class like football players in State College, PA? How many of those cases ended up with PROBATION? The 3 game punishment was from PSU football. The PROBATION was from the PA Court System. Does not sound like just Prank Calls to me!

 

[upstater]

I met Triponey once and she seemed OK (btw, she's attractive; a former beauty pageant winner). She mentioned her relationship w/Edsall in her interview with ESPN yesterday. Get the impression she was stunned how much Penn State players were allowed to get away with. Go to Google and you'll see how hated she became for trying different things at PSU. 'Resistant to change' doesn't begin to describe it. I felt sorry for her. Said more about the culture there than it did her.
I wonder if she had same relationship w/Calhoun that she had w/Edsall.

There is no doubt that players are treated as a privileged class. Paterno has actually been openly vocal about punishments on PSU's campus. He was livid about open beer violations and automatic 2 strikes and you're out policies. But he has also been a draconian punisher for offenses himself, tossing kids out for missing class. He has erred at times (Austin Scott's rape accusation, he tossed him out of school, then it was recanted, very similar to the Nate Miles story) while other times he backed up a kid (Rasard Casey) and was vindicated. But relatively speaking, he has been a stickler for punishing players. As for alcohol, he is not in Edsall's league. Paterno was not livid about players drinking beer. I think this has a lot to do with his experiences with players from the 60s and 70s. When Paterno talks about today's players, he says their infractions don't rise anywhere near the level of what went on during the 60s and 70s.

As for Calhoun, we already know he didn't agree with the Miles' penalties, and the AJ Price/Marcus Williams penalties were contested as well.

If Triponey thinks Edsall is the model, then no wonder she though Paterno was a slacker.

I can't believe the Spanier quote about choosing Triponey over Paterno. Not bloody likely.

 

[Waquoit]

As for alcohol, he is not in Edsall's league. Paterno was not livid about players drinking beer.

This is a big point in his favor. As far as I'm concerned underage drinking means under 18.

 

[Nostical]

Edsall comes out looking fantastic in all of this. if he turns Maryland around--which also seems to have had big time discipline issues--- he'll be the poster child for programs that need to clean their act.

 

[upstater]

Edsall comes out looking fantastic in all of this. if he turns Maryland around--which also seems to have had big time discipline issues--- he'll be the poster child for programs that need to clean their act.

We shall see. Paterno has been there for over half a century when the place was more podunk than podunk. In that time, no doubt, he has seen a lot. It must've seemed preposterous to him, since he was the King of State College, to be dealing with someone who had only encountered Edsalls (and maybe Paternos) before.

 

[FDNY99]

Upstater weren't those call supposedly made to the ex-Assistant coach who is all over the news right now?

I knew he was out for a month, that was his suspension. It was prank calls to the ex-assistant coach.

Point is, the WSJ article got it wrong. Like it got so much wrong about the fight especially. Players were thrown out. There was controversy that the supposed instigator, Scirocco, was kept on the team and not thrown out, but in the end, even the Judge Charles Brown said the wrong person was charged, and it was the swimmers who hit Scirotto and his girlfriend who should have been up for trial. That being said, Scirotto retaliated by getting football players to back him up. Chris Baker was the thug that night, and he was thrown out of school.

 

[upstater]

Upstater weren't those call supposedly made to the ex-Assistant coach who is all over the news right now?

The PSU fans say no, because the coach was formerly their coach, and he had just retired/left the team. Sandusky was out in 1999, so this was well after Sandusky.

 

[FDNY99]

The PSU fans say no, because the coach was formerly their coach, and he had just retired/left the team. Sandusky was out in 1999, so this was well after Sandusky.

Reason I ask is two of my friends are pretty close to the program and they said that it was Sandusky those guys were crank calling.

 

[upstater]

Reason I ask is two of my friends are pretty close to the program and they said that it was Sandusky those guys were crank calling.

It was Joe Sarra, not Sandusky.